Tabs

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Speedy Recovery Part 2

You guys absolutely need to check out this new video that some of the SMS boys put up. Click “Contrast Bathing” in the links side bar.

We have been discussing the importance of recovery. If you want to be able to take full advantage of all the multi-workout days and time away from school during a camp, you have to recover well. Otherwise you need to skip workouts to rest. That equates to wasted time.

After taking about the post training glycogen window the boys took it to a new level with speed chugging a 4:1 carb:protien beverage. Next we were on the topic of contrast bathing. The basic premise is to create a pump though constriction and dialation of the vascular system. This occurs through an extreme differential in ambient temperature. By submerging the body in a liquid you can maximize the conduction of the temperature deep inside the fatigued muscle fibers. By opening and closing the "pump" you can flush out metabolites, and possibly alleviate minor muscle trauma and inflamation, all of which remain from previous workouts. Once Mac and Magnus got wind of this idea they once again took it to a whole new level.

What you see in this video opens a whole new realm in the area of recovery. This kind of breakthrough recovery performance is typically only seen at the highest levels of athletics. It is kind of like Mac showing up at 5k J2 race and finding out it is actually a 6k! He just shrugs it off and cranks out that extra K like nobodies business and dominates the event.

Don’t try this at home or anywhere for that matter without first consulting a physician and your coach.